For decades, the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer have depended heavily on tissue biopsy, a procedure that involves surgically or percutaneously removing a piece of tumor for pathological examination. While tissue biopsy remains the diagnostic gold standard, it is invasive, carries procedural risk, cannot always be repeated, and offers only a single snapshot of a tumor that is often genetically heterogeneous and constantly evolving. Liquid biopsy has emerged as a transformative, minimally invasive alternative that analyzes tumor-derived material shed into a patient's blood, urine, saliva, or other body fluids.
By capturing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), circulati...
